Washington's insurance commissioner has adopted a final rule that sets new requirements for how insurers inspect vehicle damage, communicate with a claimant's chosen repair facility, and settle total-loss claims.
Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer signed the rule Aug. 18, 2026, according to the rule-making order. It takes effect Oct. 18, 2026.
New requirements for insurer communication with repair facilities
The rule adds two new paragraphs under WAC 284-30-390(1), the section governing motor vehicle claims. Insurers may not require a claimant to agree to a photo-only damage evaluation as a condition of coverage, and if an insurer cannot document damage from a submitted photograph, it must make reasonable efforts to request additional documentation before rejecting coverage.
Where a claimant disputes a virtual inspection's valuation, the insurer must grant an in-person inspection within five business days or another agreed time. The insurer is responsible for the documentation supporting how the estimate to repair the vehicle meets policy language.
Insurers must disclose to the claimant, upon notification of a claim, the ability to request an in-person inspection from the insurer's adjuster or chosen repair expert. They must document in writing to the claimant any repair costs in their own estimate that are not covered under the policy, citing the relevant policy language, and, if requested, explain in writing how labor and material costs and repair processes were determined, again citing the relevant policy language.
Insurers must respond in writing to both the claimant and the repair facility with a determination of amounts covered within five business days of receiving any supplemental estimate or final invoice; if any damage is rejected, the insurer must cite the applicable policy language, explain its position relative to the facts of the loss, or both.
Insurers cannot require claims information to be submitted solely through an internet-based application, and must allow claimants and repair facilities to use email, postal mail, fax, or in-person delivery instead. When requested, insurers must include the claimant in communications with the repair facility about original or supplemental estimates or changes to covered items. Insurers must also provide a first party claimant a clear written explanation of how applicable storage and towing fees are covered under the policy within five business days of a claim notification.
If an insurer pays less than a claimant's chosen repair facility's estimate, the rule requires it to "promptly and fully disclose all of the reasons it paid less than the claimant's estimate." That disclosure must include a reasonable explanation, tied to the specific policy provision cited, of why the claimant's own estimate or invoice was not accepted, and the insurer must keep a thorough record of the circumstances in its claim file, under amended WAC 284-30-390(2).
Appraisal and total-loss provisions
The rule bars insurers from requiring an appraiser functioning under a policy's appraisal clause to adjust actual cash value or valuation of loss "at any time during the appraisal process," under amended WAC 284-30-330(22). That restriction is limited to the appraisal process itself; once an appraisal award is reached, the insurer may still apply the policy's conditions to that award.
A related motor vehicle-specific provision, WAC 284-30-391(3), requires an insurer to advise its own appraiser of the total-loss calculation methods set out in that section, and bars the insurer from considering any valuation that doesn't comply with those methods when applying an appraisal award to the policy.
Where there is an agreed amount of loss and rental coverage is available, the rule requires that insurers not limit a claimant's ability to use that coverage for less than "the lesser of seven calendar days after payment is sent to the claimant or until the rental coverage has been exhausted," under amended WAC 284-30-391(7).
Database restriction applies to claims broadly
Separate from the motor vehicle provisions above, the rule defines denying or refusing to pay a claim, in part or in full, without a reasonable investigation as an unfair claims settlement practice. A reasonable investigation "may not rely solely on the use of a database," including estimating software, under amended WAC 284-30-330(4). The provision applies to claims generally, not just auto.
If an insurer uses a database, survey, estimating software, or benchmarks for material pricing or labor rates, it must, upon a claimant's request, disclose when and where the data was collected and which businesses supplied it, under amended WAC 284-30-380(8).
The rule also gives insureds the right to request their claim file at reasonable intervals, with insurers required to respond within 15 business days and disclose any withheld or redacted documents and why, under amended WAC 284-30-340(2). This right, too, is not limited to motor vehicle claims.
The rule follows other recent changes to Washington auto claims resolution. Autobody News reported in July that a Tacoma-area shop, Center Collision, used the state's newer right-to-appraisal law, SB 5721, to close a $10,000 gap with an insurer.
